Chain stitching method and article



Dec. 28, 1965 A. KLASSERT CHAIN STITCHING METHOD AND ARTICLE Filed Nov. 29, 1962 YIIIIIIIIIA l 4 l F /NVE/V70/? ALOYS KLA SSERT United States Patent 3,225,724 CHAIN STITCHING METHOD AND ARTlCLE Aloys Klassert, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to Walter Ullrich, Kalberau, Bavaria, Germany Filed Nov. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 241,075 Claims. (Cl. 112410) The invention relates to an improved form of chain stitching, and to a method of producing such stitching more particularly, but not exclusively, for use in the implanting of filaments or hairs into a material to be sewn, in the manufacture, for example, of wigs, dolls heads or the like.

It is known to secure filaments or hairs to dolls heads, wigs or the like by use of a modified chain stitch in which the backing stitches (i.e. the yarn lengths extending between successive chain loops at the side of the sewn material remote from the loops) are drawn out to form bights which are then cut open to form discrete hairs. A chain stitch of this kind can provide hair which adheres satisfactorily if the material being sewn is a resilient substance which, as it were, grips the filaments. When this known chain stitch is used on woven non-resilient substances, such as gauze or the like, the hairs can be pulled out.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved form of chain stitch which obviates the disadvantage just mentioned, enables light fabrics to have hairs implanted therein or to have tuft loops or bights formed thereon, and which is distinguished by the fact that the stitches cannot readily be pulled out.

According to the present invention there is provided chain stitching comprising a plurality of chain loops disposed at one side of a base fabric and connected by backing stitches disposed at the other side of said base fabric, said backing stitches alternately being drawn out to form bights and drawn tight against said other side of said base fabric.

The invention further provides a method of producing chain stitching which comprises, for each stitch, inserting a needle having a hook through a base fabric from one side of said base fabric, introducing a thread into said hook by means of a looper, and withdrawing said needle from said base fabric to form said thread into a chain loop at said one side of said base fabric, which chain loop is drawn through a previously-formed chain loop, so as to form a plurality of said loops disposed at said one side of said base fabric, which chain loops are connected by backing stitches at the other side of said base fabric, wherein said backing stitches are alternately drawn out to form bights at said other side of said base fabric and drawn tight to form tight backing stitches.

The invention also covers the provision of such a chain stitch seam for securing hair to wigs and dolls heads.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate diagrammatically the yarn pattern of the chain stitch in accordance with the invention and also show various stitch-forming operations effected during sewing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side elevation showing a piece of fabric with chain stitching according to the invention applied thereto;

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the sewing operations involved in forming hairs; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the formation of a plain stitch in the fabric as an intermediate operation between formation of hairs.

In the drawings there are shown a base fabric or ma terial 1 which is being sewn and which is, for instance,

a gauze fabric; and a sewing thread or filament 2; the configuration of the filament 2, in the chain stitching according to the invention, is shown in FIG. 1. This chain stitching is formed as follows:

A hooked needle 3 is raised so as to pass through the material 1 and above such material 1 the needle 3 enters into a recess in a draw-off disc 4 (FIG. 2), whilst a web 5 of the disc 4 draws the thread 2 out to the left, between the material 1 and a looper 6, to form a bight. When the needle 3 has reached its highest point, the looper 6 moves perpendicularly to the plane of the drawings and lays the thread in the hook of the needle 3. Next, the needle 3, together with the thread, descends (FIG. 3) through the material 1 and at the underside thereof draws the thread through the chain loop of the previous stitch to form a fresh chain loop which is now disposed around the needle. The needle hook is closed by an auxiliary slide or latch 8, conveniently, while the hook is passing downwards through the material 1; such expedient of closing the hook of the needle during withdrawal of said needle from the base fabric is known and has been described e.g. in Patent No. 1,364,997.

If the material 1 is a loosely woven material, the bight is severed, as shown in FIG. 3, after the chain loop has been formed, so that the bight forms two hairs on the material 1, If, however, the material 1 is resilient, such as rubber or the like, the bight is severed by a knife 7 before the needle once again enters the material 1. If yarn tufts are required instead of hairs, the bights are, of course, not severed but are released by the web 5 in an uncut condition.

After formation of the chain loop on the underside of the material 1, the needle rises (FIG. 4). On this occasion, there is no corresponding web 5 on the drawofi disc 4 to draw off the thread 2 to form a bight, so that the thread is merely laid around the needle 3 by the looper movement and enters the needle hook when the needle descends. The needle then pulls the thread (FIG. 5) tightly into the material 1, then through the chain loop of the previous stitch on the underside of the material 1, so forming a tight conventional back stitch at the side of the fabric remote from the chain loops. The immediately following stitch is now formed with a drawnout bight as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, and so on along the line of stitching.

A further point of interest in connection with the looper 6 is that in conventional chain stitch the thread is introduced into the needle hook from right to left and then the other way round from left to right.

The invention is not limited to the use of a drawout disc of the kind illustrated in the drawings, and the bights can, of course, be drawn out in any other way; nor is the chain stitching according to the invention limited to alternating drawn-out bights and back stitches and two or more drawn-out bights can, of course, be provided after a back stitch or vice versa.

The chain stitch according to the invention can, of course, be used to sew any material for sewing in the same way and with the same advantages.

I claim:

1. Chain stitching comprising a base fabric having a plurality of chain loops disposed at one side of said base fabric, said stitching including backing stitches connected to said chain loops and being disposed at the other side of said base fabric, part of said backing stitches extending away from said base fabric and being cut to form tufts and the other part being uncut and drawn tight against said other side of said base fabric, said two types of stitches alternating in a predetermined relationship.

2. A method of producing chain stitching which comprises, for each stitch, inserting a needle having a hook through a base fabric from one side of said base fabric, introducing a thread into said hook by means of a looper, and withdrawing said needle from said base fabric to form said thread into a chain loop at said one side of said base fabric, which chain loop is drawn through a previously-formed chain loop, so as to form a plurality of said chain loops disposed at said one side of said base fabric, which chain loops are connected by backing stitches at the other side of said base fabric, wherein part of said backing stitches are drawn out to extend away from said base fabric and are cut to form cut tufts and the other parts are drawn tight against said other side of said base fabric to form tight uncut backing stitches, said two types of stitches alternating in a predetermined relationship.

3. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein said hook of said needle is closed during withdrawal of said needle from said base fabric.

4. A method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the drawing out of said backing stitches is effected by a rotating draw-off disc provided with webs so arranged as to engage only the backing stitches to be drawn out and not the backing stitches to be drawn tight.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,308,608 7/1919 Onderdonk 11264 1,364,997 1/1921 Kelso 1l2-198 1,370,985 7/1921 Moffatt et al. 11264 2,063,995 12/1936 Galkin 11264 2,812,734 11/ 1957 Richards 11279.5

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

20 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner. 

1. CHAIN STITCHING COMPRISING A BASE FABRIC HAVING A PLURALITY OF CHAIN LOOPS DISPOSED AT ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE FABRIC, SAID STITCHING INCLUDING BACKING STITCHES CONNECTED TO SAID CHAIN LOOPS AND BEING DISPOSED AT THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID BASE FABRIC, PART OF SAID BACKING STITCHES EXTENDING AWAY FROM SAID BASE FABRIC AND BEING CUT TO FORM TUFTS AND THE OTHER PART BEING UNCUT AND DRAWN TIGHT AGAINST SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID BASE FABRIC, SAID TWO TYPES OF STITCHES ALTERNATING IN A PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP. 